Some might find the choice of toothpaste to be an unremarkable decision made at one or both sleepy times of our busy day, but in fact there have been great advances in this field of technology time and again. For two well-known examples, consider the introduction of fluoride salts and of artificial sweeteners—the first introduced an active technology to fight cavity formation and growth by artificially replacing enamel on teeth and the second drastically improved the frequency and consistency of brushing—merely by improving the brushing experience without the use of natural sugars (which are known to feed cavity-forming bacteria and fuel plaque formation).
Black activated charcoal has only recently become a popular ingredient in oral care products. Even as more products using black activated charcoal have been introduced into the market, it has been found that black activated charcoal is very messy and inconvenient. It blackens the brusher's mouth and can leave unsightly stains on toothbrushes, bathroom sinks, mirrors and floors. The present invention addresses these and other problems with the prior art by presenting a method for transforming activated charcoal (typically dark-grey-to-black in appearance) into a white activated charcoal (white-to-light-grey in appearance) via high temperatures and bleaching with hydrogen peroxide. In a further embodiment, other novel ingredients are compounded with the white activated charcoal, resulting in a more natural and superior toothpaste product than has previously been produced using the prior art. The embodiments of the present invention—methods and compositions—work to make the entire process of using activated charcoal to whiten the brusher's teeth more easy, pleasant and effective.
Novel inventions can be highly effective and yet still struggle to break through into widespread use. Sometimes an invention relies on a new and unfamiliar technology that raises concerns about safety (such as the introduction of air travel) or has unproven efficacy (such as the introduction of new surgical implant device). Activated charcoal is a very old technology, providing a unique adsorbant profile in the micro pitting—known to attract and retain (i.e. adsorb) a variety of contaminants—ranging from staining materials to microbes. Active charcoal has been successfully added to toothpaste as a whitening agent. Despite the impressive research demonstrating an efficacy which rivals that of chemical bleaching agents, harsh and often toxic chemical bleaching agents remain the typical consumer's preferred choice of whitener.
The present invention offers an optically white activated charcoal which behaves no differently from the more familiar black form. Because there is widespread suspicion of chemical additives and a growing demand for safe and natural alternatives, the present invention takes a novel approach and has the potential to transform dental care in a manner similar to that of fluoride by breaking through reluctant consumer uptake of a highly effective product, which has previously been dirty and messy to use.
The present invention introduces the application of optically white activated charcoal to replace the familiar activated charcoal (with dark appearance) known in prior art—to whiten teeth naturally without the mess. One further embodiment of the present invention sets forth a simple yet novel process for producing whited activated charcoal toothpaste. A further embodiment formulates a complete toothpaste solution based on activated white charcoal yielding, remarkable whitening with a formula that provides a familiar dental toothpaste experience while avoiding the use of harsh chemical additives and common allergens.